Yarn feeding device



April 30, 1946.

E. sT PIERRE 2,399,403

YARN FEEDIG DEVICE Filed Aug. 5, 1944 /f 7F16. a, T 9) man nwm M Patented Apr. 30. i946 2,399,403 Yami masonic. nevica Eugene St. Pierre, Pawtucket, R.. I., assigner to Hemphill Company, Central Fails, R. I., a eorporation ot Massachusetts Application August 5, 19M, Serial No. 543163 (ci. cli-13m d Claims.

This invention relates to mechanism for feeding yarn from the cone or other source to the needles of a knitting machine. The form described herein is designed for application to a circular, independent needle, knitting machine of the Banner type although it can be applied without dimculty to other machines of this and other types. lts primary object is to remove the` yarn from the cone at a rate at least equivalent to that required by the knitting machine and, in so doing, to eliminate completely the variations in tension caused by the resistance of the yarn at the cone as it is unwound therefrom. Such a device must be able not only to remove yarn from a cone at varying rates depending upon the imitting requirements but it must be fully automatic even to the extent of becoming inactive when use of the yarn is discontinued.

In the knitting of a stocking the rate of yarn consumption varies frequently and over a wide range as the lengths of loops are altered, for example, or when a change is made from rotary to reciprocatory knitting. The yarn feed must be able to accommodate itself to all of these changes and, as already stated, must be also able to cease action entirely when the use of the yarn is discontinued. Although only one oi' the devices will be described, as many as desired may be used on a single machine, preferably one for each yarn. They may be separately driven by individual motors or other source of power or they may be connected together by gears or belts and driven from a single source. This may be some y rotating part of the knitting machine itself.

ln any case, the object of the device is to remove yarn from the cone at a rate` at least as great as it is consumed by the knitting without at any time supplying` a surplus of any conse--A quence. The form of the device shown in the drawing is for illustrative purposes only. Many modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

In the drawing- Fig. l is an elevation of the form of yarn feeding device of this invention selected for descrip tion herein; and

Fig. 2 is an elevation of a part thereof.

.as shown in the drawing the device consists of a cylindrical cage l composed of two heads 2 and 3 connected together by spaced rods 6. Cage l is mounted upon a rotatable shaft 5 connected to a source of power indicatedin Fig. 1 by pulley E and beli-l l but which may be a motor or any lil' all)

in relation to cage l. 45 2l is pulled up by yarn 29 gear It will be rotated ed in a suitable bracket 8 rigidly attached to a convenient part t of the knitting machine.

Above cage l and in alignment with shaft 5 is a short shaft it mounted on frictionless bearings, shown as cone bearings Il and it. Shaft it is provided with a hub i3 having radial spaced pins it constituting a pin gear l5. Above this is another pin gear it mounted on a horizontal shaft il and in such a way that its pins it will engage with pins it of gear l5. Adjacent the edge of pin gear it is pivotally mounted a rod l@ connectedto one end 2l] of a take-up lever 2l, the other end of which is provided with an eyelet 2t. Take-up lever 2l is pivoted, as at 2t, so as to swing in a-vertical plane. The hub it of pin gear it is also provided with an outwardly and downwardly extending arm 2t terminating in an eyelet t5 mounted on a swivel 2t so as to be able to turn independently ina horizontal plane. The device may also be provided with fixed eyelets such as 2l and 28 for guiding the yarn to and from the device.

The device operates as follows:

A yarn 2t is fed from a cone (not shown) through eyelet 2l and eyelet 25 and is then given one or more turns around cage l, depending upon the amount of pull required, after which it is passed through eyelets 28 and 22 and from which it proceeds to whatever yarn tension device (not shown) is employed for establishing the tension desired at the needle receiving point.

Cage l rotates at a constant speed in the direction to pull the yarn from the cone and feed it in the direction of the needles. In Fig. 1 this would be from left to right.

When the machine to which the device is attached is knitting, the yarn runs from the cone beyond eyelet 2l through the feeding device and to the needles beyond eyelet 22. Take-up El will assume the position shown in Fig. 1 or some other position above or below this depending upon the tension on yarn 2li. The position of arm 2l determines the position of arm 24 and eyelet 25 More specifically, if arm in counter-clockwise direction by rod it. This will rotate gear l5 from right to left and will swing arm 24 and eyelet 2 5 around cage l in the same direction. This will increase the amount of 0 yarn wound around cage I and, consequent-ly, the

amount of drag upon yarn 2s on the cone side of cage l. Therefore, yarn will be fed faster from the cone. This increase in the feeding rate from the cone will decrease the tension of yarn 29 on other desired source. Shaft 51s vertically mount- 65 the machine side which will cause take-up 2l to drop somewhat. This will result in a rotation in the opposite direction of arm 24 and eyelet 25 and an equivalentI decrease in the length of yarn in contact with cage I. Therefore, the drag of cage I upon the yarn is decreased.

Whenever cage I tends to feed yarn from the cone at a faster rate than that required by the machine, take-up 2| will drop to its lowest position at which the shortest length of yarn will be in contact with cage I and the drag of cage I at its minimum. If the cage still feeds yarn faster than it is consumed, a slack in the yarn will result between the cage and the regular yarn tension, positioned between the device and the needles, which'slack will eliminate substantially all of the friction between the yarn and cage I which thereupon ceases to operate as a. yarn feeding device until the slack is taken up and the tension again increased sufficiently to cause the cage to draw yarn from the cone. In this way, a constant adjustment of the amount of yarn` drawn from the cone by the device is automatically obtained.

The number of turns of the yarn around cage I can be varied depending upon the character of yarn and its frictional relation to cage I. They should be enough to cause cage I, which rotates at a constant speed to draw from the cone whatever yarn is being used fast enough to meet all of the requirements oflthe knitting machine. As a practical matter cage I should be capable of drawing the yarn from the cone at a somewhat greater' rate than it can be consumed by the machine under any conditions. Otherwise, there may be an insufficiency of yarn fed at some time. Any over feeding is promptly eliminated, as already described, by the production of a slack which eliminates or reduces the feeding capacity of the cage.

Preferably take-up arm 2| is provided with a weight 30 which can be positioned at any desired point upon it. In this way, the balance of all the parts operated by yarn 29 can be adjusted to insure that arm 2| will drop quickly when the tension on the yarn decreases and also that the weight of arm 2| will not be too great so as to interfere with the tensioning of the yarn by the usual tensioning device, for example.

All of the parts operated by yarn 29 including take-up 2|, rod I9, arm 24 and pin gears I5 and I6 should be as light and frictionless as possible in order` to reduce to a minimum the effect of their weight and inertia upon the yarn and to make them as responsive as possible to variations in yarn tension. v

It will be understood, of course, that the form of this device may be changed considerably from that shown in the drawing without departing from its essential characteristics. For example, if desired, pivot 23 of take-up 2| might be at its extreme left end 20 in which case rod I9 would connect with it at some point such as the present pivot 23. Then counterweight 30 would probably be positioned upon an extension of arm 2| to the left of end 20. The purposes of this weight being to secure the desired balance between the associated parts it can be placed wherever it will accomplish its purpose and may even be omitted if the parts are properly balanced without it. The advantage of the weight is that the device may be accommodated more accurately to different yarns and different conditions which may exist both on the bone and knitting machine sides of the device.

It is desirable that a feeding device of this kind be provided for each yarn. If so, the unit may be duplicated and driven from the same or a separate source of power. In Fig. 1, a second belt 3| is shown connected to a pulley 32 assumed to be a duplicate of pulley 6, a part of another similar yarn feed device. Belt 3| may be assumed to run to a suitable sort of power, probably the same as for belt since this insures that both devices operate at the same speed.

One of the most useful characteristics of this tially cylindrical cage about whichthe yarn can be wrapped, said cage being rotatably mounted upon a vertical axis, means for rotating the cage at a substantially constant speed, a gear above said cage rotatable in a vertical plane, a second gear meshing with said first mentioned gear rotatable in a horizontal plane, means associated with said last mentioned gear for varying the length of yarn wrapped around said cage and yarn controlled means for operating said first mentionedy gear and, through it, said means for varying the length of yarn wrapped around said cage.

2. A yarn feeding device comprising a positively driven, essentially cylindrical cage about which a yarn can be wrapped, a fixed yarn guiding eyelet adjacent one end of said cage, a yarn guide eyelet adjacent the other end of said cage and swingable around said cage and means controlled by said yarn for swinging said last men- Itsi'oned eyelet around said cage in either direcion.

3. A yarn feeding device comprising two circular spaced heads connected by rods equally spaced around and adjacent to the periphery of said heads to form an essentially cylindrical cage around which a yarn can be Wound, means for rotating said cage at a substantially constant speed, means provided with a yarn guiding eyelet mounted' on a swivel and adapted to be swung around said cage to vary the feeding rate by varying the length of yarn in contact therewith and yarn controlling means for operating said last mentioned means.

4. A yarn feeding device comprising a positively driven, essentially cylindrical cage about which a yarn can be wrapped, a yarn guiding eyelet adjacent one end of said cage and swingable around said cage and means controlled by said yarn for swinging said last mentioned eyelet around said cage in either direction.

EUGENE ST. PIERRE. 

